Key facts
- Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill showed continued weight loss in a real-world study.
- Patients switching to Wegovy lost an average of 4.1% of their body weight.
- The global obesity drug market is expected to generate about $100 billion in annual sales in the next decade.
- Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar predicts weight-loss pills could capture half of the global obesity drug market by 2030.
- Novo Nordisk is developing next-generation weight-loss drugs including amycretin and CagriSema.
- Pfizer is targeting 2028 for its first approval in the weight-loss drug market.
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill has demonstrated continued weight loss in a real-world study, with patients losing an average of 4.1% of their body weight. This finding supports the company's position in the rapidly expanding obesity drug market, which analysts project could generate $100 billion in annual sales within the next decade.
Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar stated in September that oral weight-loss pills could capture as much as half of the global obesity drug market by 2030. The company is actively developing new treatments, including the next-generation injection amycretin, which showed up to 14.5% weight loss in a mid-stage study for type 2 diabetes patients, and CagriSema, which achieved 22.7% weight loss in overweight patients in a late-stage trial, though below expectations.
Competitors are also vying for market share. Pfizer is targeting 2028 for its first weight-loss drug approval with PF-3944, a once-monthly GLP-1 therapy that showed up to 12.3% weight loss in patients without diabetes. Eli Lilly's EloraTZP outperformed its blockbuster Zepbound in a head-to-head trial, with patients losing 23.3% of body weight on the highest dose of EloraTZP compared to 14.8% on Zepbound. Lilly's oral pill Foundayo has gained US and UK approval, and its next-generation drug retatrutide showed over 28% weight loss in a key trial.
Other companies in the race include Roche with its dual-acting drug enicepatide, Amgen with MariTide, Merck with a licensing deal for Hansoh Pharma's oral drug HS-10535, and Viking Therapeutics, whose VK2735 showed sustained weight loss in a maintenance study.